JP7464733B2 - Delivery control system, delivery control device, and delivery control method - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a delivery control system, a delivery control device, and a delivery control method.

Conventionally, technology is known for delivering goods such as luggage using a delivery machine such as a mobile object (for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication No. 2018/216502

Here, in a situation where there are multiple users in the vicinity who will receive the product delivery, there was an issue that delivery efficiency would decrease if the delivery machine moved to each user to make deliveries.

The delivery control system that solves the above problem is characterized by comprising: a determination unit that determines a common receiving position using receiving position determination information for a delivery address designated by a first user as the delivery destination of the product and a delivery address designated by a second user as the delivery destination of the product; and a movement control unit that moves a delivery vehicle loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position.

With this configuration, a common receiving location can be determined for multiple delivery addresses and products can be received there, thereby preventing a decline in delivery efficiency.

In the above delivery control system, the receiving location determination information includes information regarding the allowable distance between each delivery address and the receiving location, and the determination unit may determine a location within the allowable distance from the delivery address as the receiving location.

With this configuration, the user can receive the product at a receiving location within an acceptable distance.

In the above delivery control system, an acquisition unit may be further provided that acquires information indicating a distance specified by a user related to the order information as information regarding the allowable distance.

With this configuration, the receiving location can be determined according to the user's situation.

In the above delivery control system, the determination unit may use the receiving location determination information to identify multiple candidate locations, and determine, among the multiple candidate locations, the candidate location that has the smallest distance deviation from the delivery address as the receiving location.

This configuration reduces the bias in distance between multiple users who are encouraged to receive products and the receiving location, ensuring fairness among users in traveling to the receiving location.

In the above delivery control system, the receiving location determination information may include information regarding a reference weight, and the determination unit may determine the delivery address for the product whose weight is equal to or greater than the reference weight as the receiving location.

This configuration reduces the burden on users who receive products that weigh more than the standard weight.

In the above delivery control system, the receiving location determination information may include information regarding a reference volume, and the determination unit may determine the delivery address for the product whose volume is equal to or larger than the reference volume as the receiving location.

This configuration reduces the burden on users who receive products with a volume larger than the standard volume.

In the above delivery control system, the receiving location determination information includes information regarding a standard required time for travel from each delivery address to the receiving location, and the determination unit may determine as the receiving location a location among the delivery addresses where the required time for travel from the delivery address is within the standard required time.

This configuration reduces the time the delivery machine waits for the user to receive the product, while also reducing the burden on the user in traveling to the receiving location.

In the above delivery control system, the receiving location determination information includes information regarding a shelter location that is not affected by weather, and the determination unit may acquire weather information related to the area of the delivery address and determine the location of the shelter location as the receiving location according to the weather information.

With this configuration, users can receive their products regardless of the weather.

In the above delivery control system, the receiving position determination information includes information indicating a standard elevation difference, and the determination unit may identify the elevation difference from the receiving position to the delivery address, and determine the delivery address as the receiving position based on the identified elevation difference.

This configuration reduces the burden on users who receive products at the receiving location.

In the above delivery control system, the receiving location determination information includes information regarding the attributes of the user who ordered the product, and the determination unit may determine the delivery address as the receiving location based on the attributes.

With this configuration, the burden on users can be reduced depending on their attributes.

In the above delivery control system, the determination unit may determine a common receiving location for two or more delivery addresses that are within the allowable distance from the delivery addresses.

With this configuration, a group can be identified that sets a common receiving location for multiple delivery addresses depending on the distance.

The delivery control system may further include a notification unit that notifies a user of the arrival of the delivery machine when the delivery machine arrives at the receiving location.

This configuration allows users to be aware of the arrival of the delivery machine and encourages them to collect their products.

A delivery control device that achieves the above-mentioned objective is characterized by comprising: a determination unit that determines a common receiving location using receiving location determination information for a delivery address designated by a first user as the delivery destination of the product and a delivery address designated by a second user as the delivery destination of the product; and a movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery vehicle loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving location.

A delivery control method for achieving the above-mentioned objective is characterized in that a computer uses receiving position determination information to determine a common receiving position for a delivery address designated by a first user as the delivery destination of the product and a delivery address designated by a second user as the delivery destination of the product, and moves a delivery vehicle loaded with the product indicated by order information relating to the product order to the receiving position.

According to the present disclosure, by determining a common receiving location for multiple delivery addresses and having the products received there, it is possible to prevent a decrease in delivery efficiency.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a delivery control system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a customer information DB; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a delivery sequence according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of the terminal device according to the first embodiment. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of a delivery machine according to the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram used to explain a receiving position. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of evacuation location information. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing of a terminal device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram used to explain a receiving position. FIG. 13 is a diagram used to explain distance deviation. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of a delivery machine according to a third embodiment. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process of a delivery machine according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a delivery control system according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a delivery sequence according to the fourth embodiment.

Below, with reference to the drawings, we will explain embodiments of the delivery control system, delivery control device, and delivery control method.

First Embodiment
[overall structure]
As shown in Fig. 1, the delivery control system 1 includes a server device 10, one or more delivery machines 20, one or more management devices 30, and one or more terminal devices 40. The devices included in the delivery control system 1 communicate with each other via a network NW. The network NW includes, for example, the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a provider terminal, a wireless communication network, a wireless base station, a dedicated line, and the like. It is not necessary for all combinations of the devices shown in Fig. 1 to be able to communicate with each other, and the network NW may include a local network in part.

The server device 10 is, for example, a device that is accessed by the terminal device 40 and acts as an intermediary in the sale of products, i.e., a device that provides a so-called shopping site. Here, the term "site" includes not only a website displayed by a browser, but also the original data of an application screen displayed by an application program. In the following explanation, a person who uses a shopping site to purchase products will be referred to as a "user."

The delivery machine 20 is a device that delivers goods to users. The delivery machine 20 is realized, for example, by an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that runs on the ground under automatic control without a driver or other occupant on board. In the scene shown in FIG. 1, a case will be described in which the delivery control system 1 is equipped with two delivery machines 20, delivery machines 20-1 and 20-2. Note that the number of delivery machines 20 equipped in the delivery control system 1 is one example and is not limited to this, and the delivery control system 1 may be equipped with one delivery machine 20 or three or more delivery machines 20. In the following description, when there is no distinction between the delivery machine 20-1 and the delivery machine 20-2, they will simply be described as "delivery machine 20".

The management device 30 is a device provided at a distribution center that distributes goods. The distribution center is, for example, a warehouse where some or all of the goods sold on a shopping site are stored. One or more delivery machines 20 are deployed in the management device 30. Based on information received from the server device 10 via the network NW, the management device 30 identifies, from among the goods stored in the warehouse, goods to be delivered to users during the same time period. Workers at the distribution center collect the goods identified by the management device 30 and load them onto the delivery machine 20.

The terminal device 40 is any type of information processing device, including client devices such as smartphones, desktop PCs (Personal Computers), notebook PCs, and tablet PCs. Hereinafter, it is assumed that among users A, B, and C of a shopping site, user A uses terminal device 40-1, user B uses terminal device 40-2, and user C uses terminal device 40-3. In the following description, when terminal devices 40-1, 40-2, and 40-3 are not distinguished from one another, they are simply referred to as "terminal device 40". In the terminal device 40, a UA (User Agent) 45 such as a browser or application is started. The UA 45 displays a sales screen provided by the server device 10, and transmits a request to the server device 10 in response to an input operation performed by a user of the terminal device 40. The server device 10 decides to sell the product in response to the request from the UA 45.

[Server device 10]
The server device 10 includes, for example, a control unit 100, a storage unit 110, a communication unit 120, and an operation unit 130. The control unit 100 is realized by, for example, a hardware processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing a program (software). In addition, some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuitry) such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or may be realized by cooperation between software and hardware.

The memory unit 110 is realized by a non-transitory storage medium such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory, or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The memory unit 110 stores a program that realizes the control unit 100, as well as a customer information DB (Database) 111.

As shown in FIG. 2, the customer information DB 111 stores information including one or more records in which, for example, a user ID capable of identifying a user using a shopping site, information indicating a user name, information indicating the user's attributes, information indicating the user's address, product information, and delivery date and time information are associated with each other. The user ID is information that is assigned to each user when the user creates an account for use of the shopping site, for example, and is capable of identifying the user. The information indicating the user's attributes is, for example, information indicating the user's age and gender. The user's address is an example of a "delivery address." Of the information included in the customer information DB 111, the information indicating the user ID, user name, user attributes, and user address is information that is acquired when an account for use of the shopping site is created, and is pre-stored in the customer information DB 111.

The control unit 100 communicates with the terminal device 40 via the network NW and executes the various processes as a shopping site described above. In response to a user order, the control unit 100 receives product information, delivery date and time information, and a user ID from the terminal device 40. The control unit 100 searches the customer information DB 111 using the received user ID as a search key and identifies a record related to the corresponding user. The control unit 100 associates the received product information and delivery date and time information with the identified record, and creates or updates a record in the customer information DB 111.

The control unit 100 also sorts the customer information DB 111 using delivery date and time information to identify records for the same delivery time period. The control unit 100 then groups the identified records for the same delivery time period by address of the area where each delivery base delivers. A predetermined time before the delivery time period, the control unit 100 transmits the records for each group as order information to the management device 30 for the corresponding delivery base and to the delivery machine 20 located at that delivery base.

The control unit 100 may send the order information to one delivery machine 20, or may send the order information to multiple delivery machines 20 depending on the number or amount of products that one delivery machine 20 can deliver. For example, part of the order information may be sent to delivery machine 20-1, and the remaining order information may be sent to delivery machine 20-2.

Returning to Figure 1, the communication unit 120 communicates with the management device 30 and the terminal device 40 via the network NW to send and receive various information.

The operation unit 130 is realized by interfaces such as a display output device and an input device. The display output device displays images based on the control of the control unit 100, and presents various information to the user of the server device 10. In addition, operations by the user of the server device 10 are input to the input device, and the control unit 100 executes various processes based on the operations.

[Delivery machine 20]
The delivery machine 20 includes, for example, a control unit 200, a storage unit 210, a communication unit 220, and a movement control unit 230. The control unit 200 is realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). Furthermore, some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including a circuit unit) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

The control unit 200 includes a determination unit 202. The determination unit 202 determines a common receiving location for the addresses of multiple users based on the order information received from the server device 10, using the receiving location determination information. The receiving location is a location where multiple users receive products purchased on a shopping site. The receiving location determination information is information used when determining the receiving location, and is information that indicates guidelines for determining the receiving location. The receiving location determination information may be stored in the memory unit 210, or may be acquired by the determination unit 202 from the server device 10 as necessary.

In this embodiment, the receiving position determination information includes information regarding the allowable distance between the user's address and the receiving position. In this case, the determination unit 202 determines a position that is within the allowable distance from the addresses of multiple users as the receiving position. Details of the process in which the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position will be described later.

The memory unit 210 is realized by a non-transitory storage medium such as a RAM, HDD, flash memory, or ROM. The memory unit 210 stores programs and the like that realize the control unit 200.

The communication unit 220 communicates with the server device 10 and the terminal device 40 via the network NW to send and receive various information.

The movement control unit 230 moves the delivery machine 20 loaded with the goods to the receiving position. In detail, the movement control unit 230 controls the speed and steering so that the delivery machine 20 moves to the user's address or the receiving position determined by the determination unit 202. The movement control unit 230 controls various drive systems equipped in the delivery machine 20 so that the delivery machine 20 passes through the target trajectory to the user's address or the receiving position at the scheduled time, for example. The various drive systems are, for example, the driving force (torque) output to the drive wheels, the brake caliper, the cylinder that transmits hydraulic pressure to the brake caliper, the electric motor that generates hydraulic pressure in the cylinder, and the electric motor that changes the direction of the steering wheels. The processing of the movement control unit 230 is realized, for example, by a combination of feedforward control and feedback control. As an example, the movement control unit 230 executes a combination of feedforward control according to the curvature of the road ahead of the delivery machine 20 and feedback control based on the deviation from the target trajectory.

[Delivery control sequence]
A series of steps in product delivery by the delivery control system 1 will be described below with reference to Fig. 3. First, a user accesses a shopping site using a terminal device 40 and orders a product. Here, it is assumed that users A, B, and C use terminal devices 40-1 to 40-3 to order products and request the same delivery date and time.

The server device 10 generates or updates records in the customer information DB 111 as it receives orders from the terminal device 40. The server device 10 transmits the order information for each group to the management device 30 of the corresponding delivery center and to the delivery machine 20 located at the delivery center a predetermined time before the next delivery time slot.

After receiving the order information from the server device 10, the delivery machine 20 waits until the delivery time slot. Then, the determination unit 202 of the delivery machine 20 determines the receiving location where users A and B will receive the product by a receiving location determination process described in detail below. The delivery machine 20 moves to the determined receiving location and notifies the user who will receive the product at the receiving location that it has arrived at the receiving location. In detail, after the delivery machine 20 arrives at the receiving location, the communication unit 220 sends a push notification to the terminal device 40 of the target user to notify the arrival. In this case, the communication unit 220 notifies only users A and B of the arrival of users A, B, and C. In the process of notifying the user's terminal device 40, the communication unit 220 is an example of a "notification unit".

After users A and B have received the goods, or after the waiting time has elapsed, the delivery machine 20 moves to the address of the remaining user C as the receiving location. The communication unit 220 notifies user C's terminal device 40 that the delivery machine 20 has arrived at user C's address. After user C has received the goods, or after the waiting time has elapsed, the delivery machine 20 returns to the delivery base.

[User Order Processing]
Hereinafter, the details of the process of the user ordering a product will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The process shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the process of "order" in the sequence shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the server device 10 acquires product information indicating the product to be purchased by the user (step S100). In detail, the control unit 100 displays a sales screen that prompts the user to select a product via the UA 45, and allows the user to select the product to be purchased. Next, the server device 10 acquires delivery date and time information indicating the delivery date and time of the product desired by the user (step S102). In detail, the control unit 100 displays a screen that presents candidates for delivery date and time via the UA 45, and allows the user to select the delivery date and time. The control unit 100 instructs the UA 45 to transmit the user ID, the product information acquired in steps S100 and S102, and the delivery date and time information to the server device 10 (step S104). The control unit 100 identifies the user ID of the user by a login operation to the shopping site performed by the user on the sales screen.

[Processing of delivery machine 20]
The details of the processing of the delivery machine 20 will be described below with reference to Figures 5 and 6. The processing shown in Figure 5 corresponds to the processes of "send order information", "wait until delivery time", "determine receiving position", "move", and "send arrival notification" in the sequence shown in Figure 3.

First, the delivery machine 20 receives order information from the server device 10 (step S200). In this case, the delivery machine 20 records the received order information in the memory unit 210. The worker at the delivery base loads the product specified by the management device 30 onto the delivery machine 20 before the delivery time arrives. Next, when the delivery time arrives, the delivery machine 20 starts delivering the product (step S202). The delivery machine 20 starts delivering the product, for example, from the addresses indicated in the order information in order of proximity to the delivery base. The determination unit 202 determines whether or not there is an address of another user in the vicinity of the address of the user who will deliver the product next (step S204). For example, when the received order information includes order information indicating the address of a user in the same region as the address of the user who will deliver the product next, the determination unit 202 determines that there is an address of another user in the vicinity of the address of the user who will deliver the product next. The address of the user who will deliver the product next is an example of the "delivery address of the first user's product". Furthermore, the address of another user who is in the vicinity of the address of the user to whom the next product will be delivered is an example of a "product delivery address of the second user."

If the determination unit 202 determines that there is no address of another user in the vicinity of the address of the user to whom the product will be delivered next, the determination unit 202 determines the address of the user to whom the product will be delivered next as the receiving location (step S206). If the determination unit 202 determines that there is an address of another user in the vicinity of the address of the user to whom the product will be delivered next, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving location based on the receiving location determination information (step S208).

The process of determining the receiving location will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 6. Here, it is assumed that the delivery machine 20 delivers products to users A, B, and C in that order. The determination unit 202 then determines that there are other addresses RP in the vicinity of user A's address RP1, including user B's address RP2 and user C's address RP3.

As described above, the receiving position determination information of this embodiment includes information on the allowable distance SD between the address RP and the receiving position DP. The allowable distance SD is, for example, a distance that a user can generally travel to pick up a product, and is specifically a distance of about several [m] to several tens [m]. The determination unit 202, for example, uses map information to identify an overlapping range between a predetermined range SA1 in which the distance from the address RP1 is equal to or less than the allowable distance SD, a predetermined range SA2 in which the distance from the address RP2 is equal to or less than the allowable distance SD, and a predetermined range SA3 in which the distance from the address RP3 is equal to or less than the allowable distance SD. In this case, the determination unit 202 may obtain map information including the addresses RP1 to RP3 from the server device 10 or another service that provides map information. The determination unit 202 may also use map information that is stored in advance in the storage unit 210 and that includes at least the area in which the delivery machine 20 delivers the product.

In the example shown in Figure 6, a portion of the specified range SA1 overlaps with a portion of the specified range SA2. The determination unit 202 determines a position within the range where the specified range SA1 and the specified range SA2 overlap as the receiving position DP. In other words, the determination unit 202 determines a position within the allowable distance SD from each of the multiple addresses RP1 to RP2 as the receiving position DP.

In addition, the specified range SA3 does not overlap with other specified ranges SA. Therefore, the determination unit 202 excludes user C from being eligible to receive a product at the receiving position DP that is within the range where the specified range SA1 and the specified range SA2 overlap.

Returning to FIG. 5, the delivery machine 20 moves to the receiving position DP determined by the determination unit 202 (step S210). The communication unit 220 notifies the terminal device 40 of the user who is to receive the product at the receiving position DP that the delivery machine 20 has arrived at the receiving position DP (step S212). In the example of FIG. 6, the communication unit 220 notifies the terminal device 40-1 of user A and the terminal device 40-2 of user B that the delivery machine 20 has arrived at the receiving position DP. Next, the delivery machine 20 starts waiting at the receiving position DP (step S214).

In response to the notification in step S212, the user moves to the receiving position DP and receives the product that the user ordered from among the products loaded on the delivery machine 20. The user notifies the delivery machine 20 that the product has been received by operating the UA45 of the terminal device 40 or an operation unit (not shown) provided on the delivery machine 20.

The delivery machine 20 determines whether the user who notified the arrival in step S212 has completed receiving the product (step S216). If the delivery machine 20 determines that the user has not completed receiving the product, it determines whether a predetermined waiting time has elapsed since the delivery machine 20 started waiting at the receiving position DP in step S214 (step S218). The waiting time is, for example, a time that does not interfere with the delivery of products to other users, and specifically, a time of several minutes to several tens of minutes. If the delivery machine 20 determines that the predetermined waiting time has not elapsed since the delivery machine 20 started waiting, it returns to the processing of step S216.

When the delivery machine 20 determines that the target user has completed receiving the product, or when it determines that a predetermined waiting time has elapsed since the start of waiting and the waiting process times out, it determines whether or not the delivery related to the order information received in step S200 has been completed (step S220). When the determination unit 202 determines that the delivery has not been completed, it returns to step S204.

[Process for determining receiving position DP based on required time]
In the above description, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP based on the allowable distance SD from the address RP, but the present invention is not limited to this. The determination unit 202 may determine the receiving position DP based on, for example, the time required for travel from the address RP. In this case, the receiving position determination information includes information on the reference required time. The reference required time is, for example, the time that is generally allowable for a user to travel from the address RP to the receiving position DP to pick up the product, and is specifically about several minutes to tens of minutes.

The determination unit 202, based on map information, specifies a range within which the time required for travel from a user's address RP is within an allowable time (a reference predetermined time) based on the time generally required to travel from the address RP of a user in the direction of the address RP of another user present in the vicinity of the address RP, the time generally required to pass an intersection with a traffic light, a railroad crossing, etc. Then, the determination unit 202 determines a position within a range where the specified ranges overlap as the receiving position DP. In other words, the determination unit 202 determines a position within which the time required for travel from the address RP is within a reference predetermined time as the receiving position DP .

The determination unit 202 may also determine the range in which the required time is within a predetermined time, taking into consideration the time required to move between floors. In this case, the determination unit 202 determines which floor of the building the user is located on, based on the user's address RP included in the order information. The determination unit 202 then determines the range in which the required time for moving from the address RP is within a standard predetermined time, based on the time generally required to move using an elevator, stairs, or the like. For example, if the determination unit 202 determines that the range in which the required time is within the standard predetermined time from the fourth floor of the building is a range of two floors above and below , and determines the receiving position DP to be the fourth floor, the communication unit 220 notifies other users whose addresses RP are on the second to sixth floors in the same building that the delivery machine 20 has arrived at the receiving position DP on the fourth floor.

[Process for determining receiving position DP based on elevation difference]
The determination unit 202 may also determine the receiving position DP based on, for example, the difference in elevation between the address RP and the receiving position DP. In this case, the receiving position determination information includes information on the reference elevation difference. The reference elevation difference is, for example, the degree of vertical distance that a user can generally move when moving to pick up a product, and indicates the degree of the upper limit of the vertical distance. For example, the reference elevation difference takes a value of several [%]. When the reference elevation difference is 1 [%], an increase of 10 [cm] per movement of 10 [m] indicates the upper limit of the vertical distance.

The determination unit 202 acquires map information indicating the elevation difference. Next, the determination unit 202 identifies a range in which the elevation difference resulting from moving from a certain address RP in the direction of the address RP of another user present in the vicinity of the address RP is within a reference elevation difference. The determination unit 202 then determines, as the receiving position DP, a position within a range in which the identified ranges overlap. In other words, the determination unit 202 determines, as the receiving position DP, a position in which the elevation difference from the address RP is within a reference elevation difference.

The reference elevation difference may indicate the lower limit of the distance related to the elevation difference. Here, when the elevation difference from the address RP to the receiving position DP is a negative value, it indicates that the travel route from the address RP to the receiving position DP is downhill. In this case, the user is required to travel uphill to the address RP after receiving the product at the receiving position DP. Climbing uphill after receiving the product is a burden for the user. On the other hand, when the reference elevation difference has a lower limit of 0 or more and an upper limit of several [%], the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP within the range of the elevation difference within the range of the reference elevation difference. This allows the determination unit 202 to reduce the burden on the user's travel.

The determination unit 202 may also specify a range within the standard elevation difference, taking into account the elevation difference between floors. In this case, the standard elevation difference is, for example, the vertical distance that a user can generally travel when moving to pick up a product, and is a distance of several floors. Specifically, the standard elevation difference is a distance of about several [m]. In this case, the determination unit 202 specifies which floor of the building the user is located on, based on the user's address included in the order information. Then, the determination unit 202 specifies the range within the standard elevation difference from the address RP. For example, if the determination unit 202 specifies that the range within the standard elevation difference from the fourth floor of the building is a range of two floors above and below, and determines the receiving position DP to be the fourth floor, the communication unit 220 notifies other users whose addresses RP are on the second to sixth floors in the same building that the delivery machine 20 has arrived at the receiving position DP on the fourth floor.

[Determination process of receiving position DP based on weather]
Furthermore, the determination unit 202 may determine the receiving position DP based on, for example, weather information related to the area of the address RP. In this case, the receiving position determination information includes the evacuation location information 112. The evacuation location information 112 is, for example, information indicating the location of an evacuation location that is not affected by weather. An evacuation location that is not affected by weather is, for example, a location that is not exposed to rain or snow or is unlikely to be exposed to rain or snow when rain or snow falls in the area. In more detail, the evacuation location may be an outdoor location with a canopy, an indoor location, or a location where it has been previously agreed that the delivery machine 20 will wait to receive the product.

7, the evacuation location information 112 includes one or more pieces of information indicating the location of the evacuation location. The evacuation location information 112 may be stored in advance in the memory unit 210 of the delivery machine 20, or may be acquired by the delivery machine 20 from the server device 10 as necessary.

The determination unit 202 acquires weather information for the area of the destination address RP from a weather information site or the like, and determines whether or not there is rain or snow in the area. If the determination unit 202 determines that there is rain or snow, it determines the location of an evacuation location that exists near the destination address RP as the receiving location DP based on the evacuation location information 112.

[Summary of the first embodiment]
According to the first embodiment described above in detail, the following effects are achieved.

(1-1) The delivery control system 1 of this embodiment prompts a user who is to receive a product at the receiving position DP to receive the product at the receiving position DP. This allows the delivery control system 1 to suppress a decrease in delivery efficiency compared to a case in which products are delivered to each of multiple addresses RP in the vicinity. Furthermore, the user can receive the product at the receiving position DP without waiting for a nearby delivery machine 20 to arrive at the user's address RP. As a result, the delivery control system 1 can shorten the time that the user has to wait for the product to be delivered.

(1-2) In this embodiment, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving location DP to be a location within the allowable distance SD from the address RP. As described above, the allowable distance SD is the distance that a user can generally travel to pick up an item. Therefore, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving location DP to be a location that a user can generally travel to pick up an item, thereby reducing the burden on the user of traveling to pick up an item.

(1-3) The delivery control system 1 of this embodiment prompts users corresponding to addresses RP where the travel time from each address RP to the receiving position DP is within a standard travel time to pick up the product at the common receiving position DP. This enables the delivery control system 1 to reduce the time that the delivery machine 20 waits until the user picks up the product, while reducing the burden on the user in traveling to the receiving position DP.

(1-4) The delivery control system 1 of this embodiment prompts users corresponding to multiple addresses RP where the elevation difference between the address RP and the receiving position DP is within a reference elevation difference to receive the product at the receiving position DP. This enables the delivery control system 1 to reduce the burden on users of traveling to pick up the product while suppressing a decrease in delivery efficiency.

(1-5) In this embodiment, the determination unit 202 acquires weather information for the area of the destination address RP and determines whether there is rain or snow in that area. If the determination unit 202 determines that there is rain or snow, it determines the location of an evacuation location near the destination address RP as the receiving location DP based on the evacuation location information 112. This allows the delivery control system 1 to enable the user to receive the product at the receiving location DP regardless of the weather.

(1-6) In this embodiment, when the delivery machine 20 arrives at the receiving position DP, the communication unit 220 notifies the user of the arrival of the delivery machine 20. This enables the delivery control system 1 to inform the user of the arrival of the delivery machine 20 and encourage the user to receive the product.

Second Embodiment
The delivery control system 1 of the second embodiment will be described below. In the first embodiment, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP based on a predetermined allowable distance SD, etc. In the second embodiment, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP based on conditions desired by the user. Note that the same reference numerals are used for the same configurations as those in the above-mentioned embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 8, UA45 in this embodiment executes the processing of step S103 between the processing of step S102 and step S104 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 2. In detail, the server device 10 acquires the allowable distance SD to the receiving position DP desired by the user (step S103). The control unit 100, for example, displays a sales screen via UA45 that prompts the user to input the allowable distance SD, and has the user input the allowable distance SD. Therefore, in this embodiment, the allowable distance SD is the distance desired by the user, and is the distance that the user is allowed to travel to pick up the product.

In addition, in this embodiment, in step S104, the control unit 100 instructs the UA45 to transmit product information, delivery date and time information, the user ID, and information indicating the allowable distance SD to the server device 10. The control unit 100 updates the customer information DB 111 based on the received order information. In this case, the customer information DB 111 contains information including one or more records in which the user ID, information indicating the user name, information indicating the user's attributes, information indicating the user's address, product information, delivery date and time information, and information indicating the allowable distance SD are associated with each other. In the process of acquiring the allowable distance SD from the user, the control unit 100 is an example of an "acquisition unit."

Below, the details of the processing of the determination unit 202 in the second embodiment are explained.

In the scene shown in Figure 9, the delivery machine 20 decides to deliver products to user A, user B, and user C in that order, and the decision unit 202 determines that other user addresses RP exist in the vicinity of user A's address RP1, including user B's address RP2 and user C's address RP3.

The determination unit 202 of this embodiment, for example, uses map information to identify an overlapping range of an allowable range TA1 where the distance from address RP1 is equal to or less than the allowable distance SD1 for user A, an allowable range TA2 where the distance from address RP2 is equal to or less than the allowable distance SD2 for user B, and an allowable range TA3 where the distance from address RP3 is equal to or less than the allowable distance SD3 for user C. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the allowable ranges TA1, TA2, and TA3 partially overlap. The determination unit 202 determines a position within the overlapping range of the allowable ranges TA1, TA2, and TA3 as the receiving position DP. In other words, the determination unit 202 determines a position within the allowable distance SD1 to SD3 desired by each user from each of the addresses RP1 to RP3 as the receiving position DP.

[Summary of the second embodiment]
According to the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(2-1) The determination unit 202 of the delivery control system 1 of this embodiment determines the receiving location DP to be a location within the allowable distance SD desired by the user from the address RP. Therefore, the delivery control system 1 can determine the receiving location DP according to the user's situation.

<Modification>
Hereinafter, a modified example of the embodiment described above will be described. In the modified example, when there are multiple candidate positions for the receiving position DP, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP. Note that the same reference numerals are used to designate the same components as those in the embodiment described above, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the following description, the candidate position of the receiving position DP is referred to as the candidate position SDP. By the above-mentioned processing, the determination unit 202 may be able to identify multiple candidate positions SDP using the receiving position determination information. In more detail, there are cases where the overlapping range of the specified range SA is wide, where the overlapping range of the allowable range TA is wide, where there are multiple evacuation locations near the address RP, etc. In this case, the determination unit 202 identifies multiple positions or multiple evacuation locations within the overlapping range as multiple candidate positions SDP. The determination unit 202 determines the candidate position SDP that has a small distance deviation between the multiple candidate positions SDP and the address RP as the receiving position DP.

In the example shown in FIG. 10, the determination unit 202 identifies four candidate positions SDP, candidate positions SDP1 to SDP4, as candidates for the receiving position DP of user A, user B, user C, and user D. The determination unit 202 calculates the distance between each candidate position SDP and each user's address RP. Then, the determination unit 202 calculates the difference between the distance from the candidate position SDP to the closest address RP and the distance from the candidate position SDP to the farthest address RP as the distance deviation. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the determination unit 202 identifies that the address RP closest to the candidate position SDP1 is the address RP1 of user A, and the address RP farthest from the candidate position SDP1 is the address RP4 of user D. Then, the determination unit 202 calculates that the distance deviation of the candidate position SDP1 is 45 [m], which is the difference between 50 [m] and 5 [m]. The determination unit 202 performs similar processing on the candidate positions SDP2 to SDP4, and calculates that the distance deviation of the candidate position SDP2 is 40 [m], the distance deviation of the candidate position SDP3 is 35 [m], and the distance deviation of the candidate position SDP4 is 30 [m]. The determination unit 202 then determines the candidate position SDP4 with the smallest distance deviation as the receiving position DP.

[Summary of Modifications]
As described above, the determination unit 202 of the modified example uses the receiving position determination information to identify multiple candidate positions SDP, and determines the candidate position SDP that has the smallest distance deviation between the candidate position SDP and multiple addresses RP as the receiving position DP. This allows the delivery control system 1 to reduce the bias in distance between multiple users who are prompted to receive products and the receiving positions DP, and ensure fairness among users in moving to the receiving positions DP.

Third Embodiment
Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the delivery control system 1 will be described. In the third embodiment, a case where the determination unit 202 determines the address RP as the receiving position DP will be described. Note that the same reference numerals are used to designate the same components as those in the above-described embodiment and modified example, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the determination unit 202 determines whether or not a user is to be excluded based on the exclusion conditions included in the receiving position determination information. If the determination unit 202 determines that the user is to be excluded, the determination unit 202 excludes the determined user from being eligible to receive products together with multiple users at the receiving position DP, and determines the address RP of the determined user as the receiving position DP.

In this embodiment, the receiving position determination information includes information indicating the exclusion conditions, such as information regarding the reference weight, information regarding the reference volume, and information regarding the user's attributes.

If the determination unit 202 determines, based on the receiving location determination information, that the weight of the product ordered by the user is equal to or greater than the reference weight, it determines the user's address RP as the receiving location DP.

For example, a product information database ( DB ) is stored in the memory unit 110 of the server device 10 or in the memory unit of another server device accessible by the server device 10. The product information DB is information that indicates information on products sold on the shopping site for each product identifier. The product information includes the product's weight and volume. The determination unit 202 refers to the product information DB for the product in the order information and identifies the weight of the product ordered by the user. If the determination unit 202 determines that the weight of the identified product is equal to or greater than a reference weight, it determines that the user is a user to be excluded and determines the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP.

Furthermore, when the determination unit 202 determines based on the receiving position determination information that the volume of the product ordered by the user is equal to or greater than the reference volume, the determination unit 202 determines the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP. In detail, the determination unit 202 refers to the product information DB for the product in the order information and identifies the volume of the product ordered by the user. When the determination unit 202 determines that the volume of the identified product is equal to or greater than the reference volume, the determination unit 202 determines that the user is a user to be excluded and determines the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP.

In addition, the delivery machine 20 may obtain, for example, information indicating the weight or volume of the product ordered by the user from the management device 30 or from input to the delivery machine 20 by an operator at the delivery center.

Furthermore, when a user purchases multiple products, the determination unit 202 may determine the total weight of the multiple products or the weight of the storage container that stores the multiple products as the product weight. Furthermore, when a user purchases multiple products, the determination unit 202 may determine the total volume of the multiple products or the volume of the storage container that stores the multiple products as the product volume.

The determination unit 202 may also determine whether or not a user is to be excluded based on the receiving position determination information and according to the attributes of the user. For example, the attributes used to determine whether or not a user is to be excluded are attributes indicating that it is difficult for the user to move to the receiving position DP to receive the product (hereinafter, excluded attributes). Specifically, the excluded attributes are that the user's age is a predetermined age or older, that the user's gender is female, and the like. In more detail, the determination unit 202 acquires attribute information from the server device 10 for the user indicated in the order information recorded in the memory unit 210. Then, when the user attributes indicate excluded attributes, the determination unit 202 determines the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP.

The above-mentioned information indicating the user's attributes is an example and is not limited thereto. For example, the excluded attributes may include whether or not the user has family members living with the user, whether the user is at home or not during the day, whether the user has difficulty walking, and the like. These excluded attributes are acquired, for example, when the user creates an account for use of a shopping site, and are stored in advance in the customer information DB111. For example, the determination unit 202 may determine that the user attributes of a user who does not have family members living with the user are excluded attributes and determine the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP. In addition, the determination unit 202 may determine that the user attributes of a user who is not at home during the day are excluded attributes and determine the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP. In addition, the determination unit 202 may determine that the user attributes of a user who has difficulty walking are excluded attributes and determine the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP.

As shown in Figure 11, the delivery machine 20 of this embodiment executes the processing of steps S300 and S302 between steps S202 and S204 in the flowchart shown in Figure 5. Also, as shown in Figure 12, the delivery machine 20 of this embodiment executes the processing of steps S304 and S306 between steps S216 or steps S218 and S220 in the flowchart shown in Figure 5.

In detail, in step S202, after the delivery machine 20 starts delivering the product to the user, the determination unit 202 determines whether the users of the order information received in step S200 include a user whose user attribute is an excluded attribute based on the receiving position determination information (step S300). If the determination unit 202 determines that a user whose user attribute is an excluded attribute is included, the determination unit 202 determines the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP (step S302) and returns to step S204. If the determination unit 202 determines that a user whose user attribute is an excluded attribute is not included, the determination unit 202 returns to step S204.

In addition, if the determination unit 202 determines in step S216 that the target user has completed receiving the product, or if the determination unit 202 determines in step S218 that the waiting time has elapsed since the start of waiting and the waiting process times out, the process returns to step S304. In step S302, the determination unit 202 determines whether the address RP of the user whose user attribute is an excluded attribute has been determined as the receiving position DP (step S304). If the determination unit 202 determines that the address RP of the user whose user attribute is an excluded attribute has been determined as the receiving position DP, the determination unit 202 moves to the receiving position DP (step S306) and returns to step S216. In addition, if the determination unit 202 determines that the address RP of the user whose user attribute is an excluded attribute has not been determined as the receiving position DP, the process returns to step S220. As a result, a user whose user attribute is an excluded attribute does not receive the product together with other users who are in the vicinity at the receiving position DP, but receives the product at his or her own address RP.

According to the third embodiment, the following effects can be obtained:

(3-1) In the delivery control system 1 of this embodiment, the receiving location determination information includes information related to the reference weight, and the determination unit 202 determines the address RP of the user related to the product that is equal to or greater than the reference weight as the receiving location DP. This enables the delivery control system 1 to reduce the burden on the user receiving the product that is equal to or greater than the reference weight.

(3-2 ) In the delivery control system 1 of this embodiment, the receiving position determination information includes information on the reference volume, and the determination unit 202 determines the address RP of the user related to the product with the reference volume or more as the receiving position DP. This allows the delivery control system 1 to reduce the burden on the user who receives the product with the reference volume or more.

(3-3) In the delivery control system 1 of this embodiment, the receiving position determination information includes information on the attributes of the user who ordered the product, and the determination unit 202 may determine the user's address RP as the receiving position DP according to the user's attributes. This allows the delivery control system 1 to determine the receiving position DP according to the attributes, reducing the burden on the user.

Fourth Embodiment
A delivery control system 2 according to a fourth embodiment will be described below. In the above-described embodiment and modified example, the delivery machine 20 determines the receiving position DP. In this embodiment, a case where another device has a configuration for determining the receiving position DP will be described. Note that the same reference numerals will be used to designate the same configuration as in the above-described embodiment and modified example, and the description will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 13, the delivery control system 2 of this embodiment includes a server device 11 having a determination unit 202 that determines the receiving position DP, instead of the server device 10. Note that the delivery machine 21 of the delivery control system 2 may include a control unit 200a that does not have a configuration for determining the receiving position DP, instead of the delivery machine 20.

The server device 11 has a control unit 100a instead of the control unit 100 provided in the server device 10. The control unit 100a is realized, for example, by a hardware processor such as a CPU executing a program (software). In addition, some or all of these components may be realized by hardware (including circuit units) such as an LSI, ASIC, FPGA, or GPU, or may be realized by a combination of software and hardware.

The control unit 100a includes a determination unit 202 and a movement instruction unit 102. The determination unit 202 in this embodiment performs a process of determining a receiving position DP for order information grouped by address in the area where each distribution center delivers. The process of determining the receiving position DP by the determination unit 202 is the same as the process described above, and therefore will not be described.

The movement instruction unit 102 instructs the delivery machine 21 to move to the receiving position DP determined by the determination unit 202. In detail, the movement instruction unit 102 causes the communication unit 120 to transmit information indicating the determined receiving position DP to the delivery machine 21, and instructs the delivery machine 21 to move.

In this embodiment, the delivery machine 21 moves to the receiving location DP based on information indicating the receiving location DP received from the server device 11 and delivers the product to the user.

The movement instruction unit 102 may instruct the delivery machine 21 to move to one receiving position DP by sending information indicating the receiving position DP to the delivery machine 21. In this case, the movement instruction unit 102 instructs the delivery machine 21 to move to the next receiving position DP after the delivery machine 21 arrives at the receiving position DP. The movement instruction unit 102 may also instruct the delivery machine 21 to move to a series of receiving positions DP by sending a series of receiving positions DP in the grouped area to the delivery machine 21 as travel route information indicating a travel route.

[Delivery control sequence]
A series of flows for product delivery by the delivery control system 2 will be described with reference to Fig. 14. As shown in Fig. 13, the server device 11 generates or updates records in the customer information DB 111 upon receiving an order from the terminal device 40. The server device 11 performs a process for determining a receiving position DP for each group based on the order information of each group a predetermined time before the delivery time slot. The server device 11 transmits information indicating the determined receiving position DP to the delivery machine 21 located at the corresponding delivery base.

After receiving the receiving location DP from the server device 11, the delivery machine 21 waits until the delivery time slot. The delivery machine 21 then moves to the received receiving location DP and notifies the user who receives the product at the receiving location DP that it has arrived at the receiving location DP. After users A and B have received the products, or after the waiting time has elapsed, the delivery machine 21 moves to the address RP of the remaining user, user C, as the receiving location DP. The delivery machine 21 notifies user C that it has arrived at user C's address RP. After user C has received the product, or after the waiting time has elapsed, the delivery machine 21 returns to the delivery base.

According to the fourth embodiment, the following effects can be obtained:

(4-1) In the delivery control system 2 of this embodiment, the receiving position DP is determined in the server device 11, and the delivery machine 21 moves to the receiving position DP determined by the server device 11. This allows the delivery control system 2 to obtain the same effect as the delivery control system 1 described above.

[Combination of processes for determining receiving position DP]
In the above-mentioned embodiment and modified example, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP based on various information included in the receiving position determination information, but the present invention is not limited to this. The determination unit 202 may determine the receiving position DP based on one piece of information among various information included in the receiving position determination information, or may determine the receiving position DP based on a combination of multiple pieces of information. For example, the determination unit 202 may determine, as the receiving position DP, a position within the allowable range TA up to the allowable distance SD desired by the user and where the elevation difference between the address RP and the receiving position DP is within a reference elevation difference, as a combination of multiple pieces of information.

In addition, various information included in the receiving position determination information may be assigned a priority. In this case, the determination unit 202 performs a process of determining the receiving position DP using information with a high priority among the information included in the receiving position determination information. For example, when the allowable range TA up to the allowable distance SD desired by the user does not overlap with the range in which the elevation difference between the address RP and the receiving position DP is within the reference elevation difference, the determination unit 202 may determine the receiving position DP based on the information with a high priority.

The user may also select information to be used to determine the receiving position DP from among the various pieces of information included in the receiving position determination information. The user may also assign a priority to the various pieces of information included in the receiving position determination information. In this case, instead of or in addition to the processing of step S103, the server device 10 executes a process to obtain information indicating the selection result of the information to be used to determine the receiving position DP selected by the user from the receiving position determination information, or information indicating the priority assigned by the user to the various pieces of information included in the receiving position determination information.

For example, if the user selects to use information indicating the user's desired allowable distance SD and information indicating the standard elevation difference from among the receiving position determination information to determine the receiving position DP, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP using both the information indicating the allowable distance SD and the information indicating the standard elevation difference. In other words, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP to be within a range where the allowable range TA up to the user's desired allowable distance SD and the range where the elevation difference between the address RP and the receiving position DP is within the standard elevation difference overlap. In addition, if the allowable range TA desired by the user does not overlap with the range where the elevation difference is within the standard elevation difference, the determination unit 202 may determine the receiving position DP based on information to which the user has assigned a high priority. This allows the delivery control system 1, 2 to deliver the product to the receiving position DP that better meets the user's desired conditions.

The delivery control system 1, 2 may determine the receiving position DP using information included in the receiving position determination information to which the service provider (in this case, the shopping site provider) has given a high priority, regardless of the user's selection. For example, the service provider may assume a risk of thunderstorms, heavy rain, etc., and give a high priority to the evacuation location information 112 among various information included in the receiving position determination information. In this case, when the determination unit 202 determines that there is a thunderstorm, heavy rain, etc., or that there will be a thunderstorm or heavy rain in the area of the user's address RP based on the weather information related to the area of the user's address RP, the delivery control system 1, 2 may determine the receiving position DP based on the evacuation location information 112, regardless of the user's selection. This allows the delivery control system 1, 2 to determine the receiving position DP based on the information that the service provider wants to prioritize.

[Combination of processes to be excluded from receiving position DP]
In the above-described embodiment and modified example, the determination unit 202 excludes other users from receiving products at the receiving position DP based on various exclusion conditions included in the receiving position determination information, and sets the user's address RP as the receiving position DP, but this is not limited to the above. The determination unit 202 may exclude a user from the target based on one piece of information among various pieces of information indicating the exclusion conditions included in the receiving position determination information, or may exclude a user from the target based on a combination of multiple pieces of information. In more detail, the determination unit 202 may determine that a user is an exclusion target when any of the exclusion conditions is met, or may determine that a user is an exclusion target when all of the exclusion conditions are met.

In addition, the user may select information to be used in the process of excluding from the target, among the various exclusion conditions included in the receiving position determination information. In this case, instead of or in addition to the process of step S103, the server device 10 executes a process of acquiring information indicating the selection result of the information to be used as the exclusion condition selected by the user from the receiving position determination information.

The delivery control systems 1 and 2 may determine the receiving position DP using various exclusion conditions included in the receiving position determination information specified by the service provider, regardless of the user's selection. For example, the service provider may instruct a process to exclude from the target using a reference weight among the information indicating the exclusion conditions included in the receiving position determination information, regardless of the user's selection. In this case, if the determination unit 202 determines that the weight of the product ordered by the user is equal to or greater than the reference weight, it may determine that the user is to be excluded, regardless of the user's selection, and determine the address RP of the user as the receiving position DP. This allows the delivery control systems 1 and 2 to determine the receiving position DP based on the information that the service provider wants to prioritize.

The above embodiments may be modified as follows. The above embodiments and the following examples may be combined with each other to the extent that they are not technically inconsistent.

The delivery machines 20, 21 may be provided with an occupant such as a driver who operates the delivery machine 20, 21. In this case, the driver of the delivery machine 20, 21 drives the delivery machine 20 , 21 to the receiving position DP determined by the server device 10, 11 or the delivery machine 20, 21.

Furthermore, even if the delivery machines 20 , 21 run under automatic control, the delivery machines 20 , 21 may have an occupant on board to load and unload goods, etc.

Instead of a configuration in which an operator at the distribution base loads the goods onto the delivery machines 20 and 21, a UGV that runs within the distribution base under automatic control may collect and load the goods. In this case, the management device 30 may control the UGV that runs within the distribution base under automatic control. Also, the delivery machines 20 and 21 may run within the distribution base under automatic control to collect and load the goods.

When UA45 receives an order from a user, it may transmit information indicating the user's address to server device 10 instead of or in addition to the user ID. In addition, when the user uses a shopping site for the first time, UA45 may obtain information indicating the user name, information indicating the user's attributes, and information indicating the user's address together with the order.

○ The order information may be information including at least information indicating the pickup location and product information from a record in the customer information DB 111. In this case, the control unit 100, 100a reads out the information indicating the pickup location and the product information from the identified record, generates order information, and transmits it to the management device 30 and the delivery machine 20, 21. In this case, in order for the determination unit 202 to perform the process of determining the pickup location DP based on the user attributes, the determination unit 202 accesses the server device 10, 11, searches the corresponding customer information DB 111, and identifies the user attributes.

○The server devices 10, 11 may not be equipped with an operation unit 130, and the client device of the server devices 10, 11 may be equipped with an operation unit 130.

○ In the above, the determination unit 202 has been described as determining a receiving position DP for a user's address RP in the same region as the address RP of the user to whom the next product will be delivered, but this is not limited to the above. The determination unit 202 may determine a common receiving position DP for two or more addresses RP that are within an allowable range TA from the address RP of the user to whom the next product will be delivered, among the addresses RP of multiple users.

For example, in the example of FIG. 6, the determination unit 202 may determine a common receiving position DP for two or more addresses RP that exist within a predetermined range SA from the address RP of user A who will be the next to deliver the product. In the above example of FIG. 6, the determination unit 202 specified the predetermined range SA for each of user A, user B, and user C, and excluded the address RP3 of user C. On the other hand, according to this configuration, the determination unit 202 determines the receiving position DP for the other addresses RP on the condition that the address RP is once within the allowable distance SD of a certain address RP. This allows the determination unit 202 to reduce the load associated with the process of determining the receiving position DP compared to the case where the determination unit 202 specifies the predetermined range SA for all addresses RP that exist in the same area. Therefore, the delivery control system 1, 2 can suppress a decrease in delivery efficiency by having multiple users who receive delivery of the product receive the product at the receiving position DP.

In the above embodiment, the determination unit 202 assumes user A as the first user and multiple users B to D as the second users, but it only needs to be applied to the addresses RP of at least two users (first user, second user), and the number of user addresses RP in the determination process of the determination unit 202 is not limited .
The address RP may be not only the user's residence but also an address specified by the user.

1, 2...delivery control system, 10, 11...server device, 20, 20-1, 20-2, 21...delivery machine, 30...management device, 40, 40-1, 40-2, 40-3...terminal device, 100, 100a, 200...control unit, 102...movement instruction unit, 110, 210...memory unit, 112...evacuation location information, 120, 220...communication unit, 130...operation unit, 202...determination unit, 230...movement control unit, 111...customer information DB, DP...receiving location, RP, RP1, RP2, RP3, RP4...address, SD, SD1, SD2, SD3...allowable distance, SDP, SDP1, SDP2, SDP3, SDP4...candidate locations.

Claims (25)

A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement control unit that moves a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding an allowable distance between each delivery address and the receiving location,
A delivery control system characterized in that the determination unit determines a location within the allowable distance from the delivery address as the receiving location . A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for a first user's product delivery address and a second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement control unit that moves a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Equipped with
A delivery control system characterized in that the determination unit uses the receiving location determination information to identify multiple candidate locations, and determines, among the multiple candidate locations, the candidate location that has the smallest distance deviation from the delivery address as the receiving location. A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement control unit that moves a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving position determination information includes information regarding a reference weight,
A delivery control system characterized in that the determination unit determines the delivery address for the product having a weight equal to or greater than the reference weight as the receiving location. A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement control unit that moves a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving position determination information includes information regarding a reference volume,
A delivery control system characterized in that the determination unit determines the delivery address for the product having a volume equal to or larger than the reference volume as the receiving location. A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement control unit that moves a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding a reference travel time required for travel from each delivery address to the receiving location,
A delivery control system characterized in that the determination unit determines, among the delivery addresses, a location where the travel time from the delivery address is within the standard travel time as the receiving location. A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement control unit that moves a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding a shelter that is not affected by weather,
A delivery control system characterized in that the determination unit acquires weather information related to the area of the delivery address, and determines the location of the evacuation site as the receiving location based on the weather information. A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement control unit that moves a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving position determination information includes information indicating a reference elevation difference,
A delivery control system characterized in that the determination unit identifies the elevation difference from the receiving location to the delivery address, and determines the delivery address as the receiving location based on the identified elevation difference. An acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a distance designated by a user related to the order information as information regarding the allowable distance,
The delivery control system according to claim 1 . The receiving position determination information includes information regarding attributes of a user who has ordered the product,
The determination unit determines the delivery address as the receiving location based on the attribute.
A delivery control system according to any one of claims 1 to 8 . The determination unit determines a common receiving location for two or more delivery addresses that are within the allowable distance from the delivery addresses.
The delivery control system according to claim 1 . Further, a notification unit is provided that notifies a user of the arrival of the delivery machine when the delivery machine arrives at the receiving position.
A delivery control system according to any one of claims 1 to 10 . A determination unit that determines a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using receiving location determination information;
A movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding an allowable distance between each delivery address and the receiving location,
A delivery control device characterized in that the determination unit determines a location within the allowable distance from the delivery address as the receiving location . A delivery address for the first user's product and a delivery address for the second user's product
A determination unit that determines a common receiving position using receiving position determination information for the above-mentioned items;
A movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The delivery control device is characterized in that the determination unit uses the receiving location determination information to identify multiple candidate locations, and determines, among the multiple candidate locations, the candidate location that has the smallest distance deviation from the delivery address as the receiving location. A delivery address for the first user's product and a delivery address for the second user's product
A determination unit that determines a common receiving position using receiving position determination information for the above-mentioned items;
A movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving position determination information includes information regarding a reference weight,
The delivery control device is characterized in that the determination unit determines the delivery address for the product having a weight equal to or greater than the reference weight as the receiving location. A delivery address for the first user's product and a delivery address for the second user's product
A determination unit that determines a common receiving position using receiving position determination information for the above-mentioned items;
A movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving position determination information includes information regarding a reference volume,
A delivery control device characterized in that the determination unit determines the delivery address for the product having a volume equal to or larger than the reference volume as the receiving location. A delivery address for the first user's product and a delivery address for the second user's product
A determination unit that determines a common receiving position using receiving position determination information for the above-mentioned items;
A movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding a reference travel time required for travel from each delivery address to the receiving location,
A delivery control device characterized in that the determination unit determines, among the delivery addresses, a location where the travel time from the delivery address is within the standard travel time as the receiving location. A delivery address for the first user's product and a delivery address for the second user's product
A determination unit that determines a common receiving position using receiving position determination information for the above-mentioned items;
A movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding a shelter that is not affected by weather,
A delivery control device characterized in that the determination unit acquires weather information related to the area of the delivery address and determines the location of the evacuation site as the receiving location based on the weather information. A delivery address for the first user's product and a delivery address for the second user's product
A determination unit that determines a common receiving position using receiving position determination information for the above-mentioned items;
A movement instruction unit that instructs a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to move to the receiving position;
Equipped with
The receiving position determination information includes information indicating a reference elevation difference,
A delivery control device characterized in that the determination unit identifies the elevation difference from the receiving location to the delivery address, and determines the delivery address as the receiving location based on the identified elevation difference. The computer
Determining a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using the receiving location determination information;
Moving a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Including,
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding an allowable distance between each delivery address and the receiving location,
A delivery control method comprising determining, as the receiving location, a location within the allowable distance from the delivery address . The computer
Determining a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using the receiving location determination information;
Moving a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Including,
A delivery control method comprising: using the receiving location determination information to identify a plurality of candidate locations; and determining, among the plurality of candidate locations, the candidate location having the smallest distance deviation from the delivery address as the receiving location. The computer
Determining a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using the receiving location determination information;
Moving a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Including,
The receiving position determination information includes information regarding a reference weight,
A delivery control method, characterized in that the delivery address for the product having a weight equal to or greater than the reference weight is determined as the receiving location. The computer
Determining a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using the receiving location determination information;
Moving a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Including,
The receiving position determination information includes information regarding a reference volume,
A delivery control method comprising determining the delivery address for the product having a volume equal to or larger than the reference volume as the receiving location. The computer
Determining a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using the receiving location determination information;
Moving a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Including,
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding a reference travel time required for travel from each delivery address to the receiving location,
A delivery control method comprising determining, as the receiving location, a location among the delivery addresses, for which the travel time from the delivery address is within the reference travel time. The computer
Determining a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using the receiving location determination information;
Moving a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Including,
The receiving location determination information includes information regarding a shelter that is not affected by weather,
A delivery control method comprising: acquiring weather information relating to the region of the delivery address; and determining the location of the evacuation site as the receiving location in accordance with the weather information. The computer
Determining a common receiving location for the first user's product delivery address and the second user's product delivery address using the receiving location determination information;
Moving a delivery machine loaded with the product indicated by order information related to the product order to the receiving position;
Including,
The receiving position determination information includes information indicating a reference elevation difference,
A delivery control method comprising: identifying an elevation difference from the receiving location to the delivery address; and determining the delivery address as the receiving location based on the identified elevation difference.

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